ROTTERDAM1982

He should have broken the squad up quicker.

His signings have been good, but 9 of the players who got DS sacked played last night, Ashley Young at 38 is our best player, too many players who are unreliable, and poor quality.

I still think it is a mistake getting rid of Gerrard, and i fear that this might be the start of the current owners losing interest.

Villas record under DS with Jack was 1.5 points per game, without him 0.8.

My point is , maybe it is SGs fault, but maybe the players have been found.

In answer to previous points

PC at £17m is an absolute steal

Carlos, significantly improves the back 4, as does Kamara in midfield. The kind of midfielder that DS refused to acknowledge we needed.

Digne is a better player that Targett, granted some people may disagree, but in reality we paid £10m for him.

Dendonker and Chambers are good squad players.

The players that have come in under SG improve the team and squad.

If I was the next Villa manager i would replace Bailey, Watkins and McGinn, and if we do that with better quality then i believe that PC,Emi, and Ramsey will get better.

But thats my view, i haven't seen a good Villa team in 20 years, Jack briefly got me excited again, but hes gon now, and i think the quality is not good enough to get us in the top 8. And if as you seem to think, the players are good enough, what happens if they don't like the next manager/

1 minute ago, DCJonah said:

You genuinely think there's nothing he could do to beat a Leeds team with 10 men and the worst team in the league?

I'm not particularly bothered if Gerrard stays or goes tbh, i get fed up of the constant changing every 12 months, but i don't blame Gerrard for Watkins 2 one on ones against Leeds, No

Ings wouldn't have been in that position because of his lack of pace, Archers ability at this level is unknown, Bailey blows hot and cold. That is our options. I find it hard to believe that Gerrard wasn't expecting at least 1 striker in the summer. After he gets them in, thats when i will judge him

6 minutes ago, StefanAVFC said:

I'm just baffled.

We have a squad containing Leon Bailey, Emi Buendia, Phillipe Coutinho, Ollie Watkins, Danny Ings

6 goals in 9 games

10 minutes ago, ChesterDad said:

There is enough good players in this squad to be doing so much better than we are currently doing - Bertie and Morgan say hi 

Thats the kind of quality you want at VP?

4 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

Is that villa in control or forest?

Forest at home played like an away team.

Our options up front atm are Watkins up front, lack of control, poor movement, doesn't find pace, not brilliant in the air, so limit the space behind you and hes ineffective.

Ings, slow, limited ability outside the area, dangerous in the area, crowd him in the area.

Thats what they did. Theres limited danger elsewhere, PC is off form and Emi doesn't get many goals, so there whole tactic last night was keep it solid at the back and try and get something on the break or from a set piece, which is what they did.

We did it against Citeeeh, and will probably do it on Sunday.

Spuds do it every week under Conte

Now somebody has just told me that you can'yt judge Emery at Arse on his signings because Edu made them, so how can you blame Gerrard for not signing players.

The implications were that he wanted to sign Bissouma, never going to happen unfortunately, and Sarr, who didn't sign for whatever reason. They both would have dramatically improved the team.

Carry on rating Watkins, and Ings, thats fine, thats your opinion, i don't . We are allowed to have different views

I think that is a good point PieFace

When SG first arrived, we had a reasonable run, and on stats we was the hardest working team in the Prem.

At the start of this year we had the lowest, whats changed? attitude or ability?and does that change with a new manager?

If I was Villa manager i would be buying players for the long term , like Kamara, i would have paid what Brighton wanted for Bissouma in Jan, and i would have been in for Jesus. Now the probability is that we wouldn't have got them, but the manager and the board suggest ambition. Some of the players are as high as they are going to get, and that can lead to complacency.

34 minutes ago, StefanAVFC said:

Are you really asking for ONE example of potentially creative tactics, from a professional coach earning millions a year?

The bar may as well be underground.

I'm always amazed at how you miss the point.

What alternatives were there last night?

Ings, no movement, no pace, or Archer, unconfirmed potential?

In place of?

Midfdield..   Dendonker/Sansom....in place of?

We are bereft of quality up front, and without Kamara , in midfield also. Tinkering around will not hide the fact that since Jack we win half as many games.The void has not been filled with Ings, Bailey or Emi, thats not Gerrards fault.

Define tactical creativity, and give me an example of one available with this current squad.

In the last 2 games I have seen enough examples of spurrned opportuinities,.

Watkins should have had at leas 2 against Leeds,.

I think there is at least 8 worse teams than us Tinker. 

Interesting post LC.

My view on Emi is that i like the fact that he always wants the ball, and tries things, but he does give the ball away a lot. Everybody seems to have a downer on PC at the moment, but he is a notch above Emi, and doesn't give the ball away as much. 

When we have a good team, i think he is a useful squad player

The amount of times we was in good positions last night, and the final choice/pass was poor. 

Watkins shouldn't be offside, Ramsey should shoot across the goalie, McGinn and Archer should do better. Thats not including the amount of times the ball is wide and the cross fails to beat the 1st defender.n't taken the max points we should

What Gerrard is saying imho is some of the players aren't good enough to take us up the table. 

McGinn, Ings, Bailey, Watkins are not top 10 players, Buendia, PC, and Ramsey maybe. Replace Watkins and Bailey with better players, who have better touch, make better runs, and are better players and Ramsey, PC, and Emi become better players as well.

Kamara has probably been the best signing in 10 to 15 years, because he is exactly the kind of player we needed, we have a ready made replacement in Tim, we need better players around him. I'm not sure that is Gerrards fault. I understand the temptation to buy Sarr, but maybe SG thought that he was not the right player to take us forward, and I think his signings have been very good so far.

We have shown in the last few games that we are much better than Leeds, Forest, and Southampton , but our limitations up front means we have taken the maximun levels we should.

I know its an unpopular view, but i would give him until the summer, allow him to buy a couple in Jan, and then if hes still here , improve the squad in the summer.

I watched the last 2 games, and i didn't see tactical naivety in our play, jus bad decision making.

I think Jack hid a lot of our problems. He was probably worth about 10 to 15 points a season

Luiz had a better game last night, but moves the ball too slowly, gives silly free kicks away, and looks for free kicks instead of getting back into position. 

Hes nowhere near as good as Kamara in that role.

He falls into the category as nowhere near as good as we think he is.

If Arse offer over £20m i would let him go

Emery bought Pepe and Luiz for Arse. 

Gerrard got Kamara on a free, and Carlos for £30m

Just saying, careful what you wish for

Whats the record been since Jack left?

Not sure some of the players we thought were good , are as good as we think.

Keane was right, McGinn, Ramsey, Watkins and Coutinhio were not brave enough on the ball. Ramsey has to shoot, Archer and McGinn have to do better in them positions, choice of final ball is poor, and quality in the final 1/3rd is very poor. 

Regardless of who the manager is, those issues do not go away.

Did Ings touch the ball?

To be fair to Gerrard Zatman, Traore, El Ghazi or Trez were never going to be good enough. I'm not convinced about Bailey, and maybe Sarr didn't convince in an interview. We nned more quality and pace up front, and then you would see the best of PC and EB

All the experts on here.

I think we are in a rebuild, he needs better quality up front, he hasn't been able to bring in any players up front yet. If SG had bought Bailey and Watkins then i would ne worried about his ability. For me all of his signings have improved the team, but Bailey, Watkins and Ings are all unreliable and average at best

I would give Archer a go,

Either start him, or bring him on after 60 mins.

The problem is if SG does he will get slaughertered because he didn't play Watkins or Ings

Ings is finished

Leeds were even worse

Replace Watkins with an average player and you win that game.

Blame the manager all you like, but Ings has done nothing.

Still try Archer though, although might be too much pressure on a young player

We will only improve when we bring in better players than Watkins and Bailey. Gerrards buys so far have been better than DS's , that is why I would stick with him. 2 good buys in Jan would make all the difference.

Some of you have forgot the rubbish we had under Lambert.

Some of you kept telling me Westwood was a good player.

3 1st teamers out today who would have made a difference.

The average players, who need replacing, Watkins, Ings, Bailey, are all DS signings. 

I like Poch, but I think he would struggle with some of the players we have

We have to try and get the ball to him quicker.